Bharatiya Janata Party, Jharkhand

Bharatiya Janata Party, Jharkhand, or simply BJP Jharkhand, is the affiliate of Bharatiya Janata Party for the state of Jharkhand. Its head office is situated at the M-7, Harmu Housing Colony, Ranchi. Deepak Prakash was appointed as the State President of the Jharkhand unit on 25 February 2020.

History
At the time of its formation in 1980, the Bharatiya Janata Party had limited success in what would become Jharkhand. In the 1985 Bihar legislative assembly election, the BJP won 16 seats of which 14 were in regions that would become part of Jharkhand. In 1989, the BJP won five seats in the region. The BJP had long supported the creation of a state out of the southern part of Bihar they called 'Vananchal', in keeping with their naming of the Adivasis as 'Vanvasis'. The BJP's rhetoric at this time with regards to the Jharkhand movement largely claimed that the mainstream leaders, which they saw as westernized 'elites', were using the Jharkhand movement to enrich themselves. The BJP sought to persuade non-Christian tribals by claiming they were part of the 'Hindu nation', while demonizing Christian tribals as westernised. Much of this groundwork was prepared by sister organisations like the Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram, which sought to prevent Christian conversions among Adivasis and Hinduize them.

In 1989, due to their promise for Vananchal, they obtained 5 out of the 14 seats in the Lok Sabha, with a 30% voteshare. In 1990, the BJP gained 20 seats with a voteshare of at least 20% in the Jharkhand region, which stayed with the party throughout the 1990s. In 1991, the BJP officially added a promise to set up a commission to study the division of larger states, including Bihar, into smaller states and gained five seats. The electorate in Jharkhand were favouring national parties who could form a government at the Centre and grant them statehood, and the BJP was the most influential party advocating strongly for statehood. In 1996 and 1998, the BJP obtained 12 seats in the Jharkhand region, and 11 in 1999, squeezing out other regional parties like JMM and AJSU who were also advocating for statehood. The BJP combined its small states agenda with a patronization of tribal institutions and nomination of tribal candidates for the elections. In 2000, the BJP gained the most seats in the Jharkhand region during Bihar assembly elections with 39.5% of the vote, and when the BJP at the centre formed the three new states, the BJP formed the first government. Babulal Marandi was chosen as the first Chief Minister.